Reality has a Liberal Bias . . .

*
Forbes.Com reports:  US ranks 10 th in overall happiness /  prosperity study.

During the last presidential campaign, sometime before the Great Recession of 2008, I had a letter published in Time magazine.  Below is the rendition as it appeared in Time, (if you wish to read the original, follow this link to an earlier post), and as you can see, there must have been some warning signs. Not only that, but I made the case that Canada has a better handle than the US on the proper role of government. Something the right likes to wax shrill about.

I had not thought about the letter to Time much, but re-read it recently, and found it strangly interesting to read it now, more than 2 years into the great recession, especially knowing that it was written about 6 months before November 2008. Look it over and see what you think.

________________________

Presidents and Pocketbooks
Justin Fox asked if presidents matter when it comes to the economy [Feb. 18]. In Canada unemployment is at a record low, exports are in demand, and there is no hint of a subprime-mortgage crisis or recession. This in a country with higher taxes than the U.S. and universal health care to boot. In U.N. quality-of-life surveys, Canada beats the U.S. by miles. Canada, it seems, has struck a balance: government is responsible for collecting taxes and providing services. In contrast, the U.S. has corporate welfare, tax cuts for the wealthy and the decimation of public services and infrastructure. Republican administrations have dispensed with oversight of corporations, leading to job outsourcing and the financial collapses and crises of companies such as Enron, MCI and banks with a big stake in the mortgage industry. It matters what Presidents do!

PETER ROSENTHAL, CHARLESTON, S.C.

________________________ 

 

Anyway, just this week, we have two interesting points of follow-up to this.  First, the commission reviewing the financial crisis has determined that the collapse of AIG and the big banks was foreseeable and could have been prevented.  Second, here is an article from Forbes.com ranking the world's nations in regard to a formula of "prosperity" and / or "happiness".  The US comes in 10th, Canada comes in 7th (step through the top ten in pictures for this) for the rest read the full article.

The Forbes article is brief, and not very detailed, but it all just goes to show that it's not just the mainstream media that have a liberal bias.  Forbes is after all a business oriented publication. Makes you think, doesn't it?  Maybe Stephen Colbert is right after all - Reality itself has a Liberal Bias.

So it goes . . .

On the shooting in Tucson . . .

Once more innocent people pay the price for our society's inability to enact meaningful laws governing access to guns, and for the vitriol in our political discourse.  The latter (dare one say it?) originates by-and-large from the right, and not just from the fringes. Those who have participated in legitimizing this rhetoric need to step up, own it, and desist at once.

 
Our heartfelt condolences go to those who have lost loved ones, and our prayers go out for full and speedy recoveries for those who have been injured, especially U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona 8)
See   Article on the shooting in wikipedia